A Rat's Tale
by harlotsandhomosexuals
Summary: With the anniversary of the death of his beloved coming up, Splinter begins to dwell on memories of the past. Takes place during the 'early' years of his mutation. TMNT 2012
1. Chapter 1

Splinter stood in front of the fridge, trying to decide if he wanted leftover algae and worms or leftover worms with algae. The boys were tucked in and asleep, though getting them there had not been an easy job.

Michelangelo had insisted on a bedtime story. And then a glass of water. Then another story. And then he had to use the restroom. It was clear the child did not want to go to bed. Splinter had to sing several lullabies to get the him to finally close his eyes.

Donatello, on the other hand, would not be settled with a song. After coaxing and cooing, the only way the child agreed to stay in bed and sleep was if he was promised that they could go exploring after 'this whole ordeal had passed'.

Leonardo and Raphael had been the easiest to deal with. Well, for the first few minutes. They both crawled into bed without protesting. Splinter had thought he was finally finished with boys when Leonardo began to scream.

His brother had taken his favorite stuffed bear, the one couldn't sleep without. Raphael was screaming right back, too. The only way their father could get them to be quiet was to put his hands over their mouths. The two stopped fighting after a pinch on the arms and a lesson about sharing and fell asleep while holding the bear.

With a sigh, Splinter pulled out a pitcher of water and shut the fridge. He may have been hungry but he knew late night snacks would only give him strange dreams. He didn't need more of those; the water would fill him.

As he poured his drink, one of the stools at the kitchen island slid out and someone sat down. One of the boys was awake. His ears flattened and he turned around to scold the son who had decided to stay up past their bedtime. But when he faced the person sitting down, he found it was not a child at the table.

"Hello, Yoshi." She said with a smile. Splinter gasped and dropped the glass he was holding. It hit the ground with a crash, water and sharp pieces shattering everywhere.

"Surprised to see me?" Tang Shen asked. He could only gape at her. This wasn't possible. But there she was, still smiling, waiting for him to say something.

"Shen?" His voice was soft. "Shen?" She leaned forward a bit and rested her chin on her hands. "How? Shen, I'm sorry!" He staggered forward, tears rolling down his face. "I'm so sorry." The woman said nothing, just lifted her head up from her hands and shook her head.

"Shen!" He cried out. She was starting to fade. "Please! I'm sorry!" He was sobbing now, reaching for her. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry!"

"Shen…" The rat mumbled in his sleep. "I love you."


	2. Chapter 2 Staring

Splinter lay on his futon, staring up at the ceiling. It was the middle of the night but he could not sleep. Whenever he closed his eyes, she was there. And it was too much for him to bear.

He had locked himself away, barely coming out of his room and never for very long. He did not say or do anything besides take care of the boys. The boys worried about him, but knew better than to try and pull him out of it.

In the months that followed, Splinter would make sure he spent plenty of time with his sons. He would go to extra lengths to make them happy and always be there.

He always promised he wouldn't 'go away' again. But the next year, he would. The boys could have him for eleven months of the year, but this one was his.

So Splinter spent his nights staring up in the darkness, dreading inevitable sleep, completely alone with his memories.


	3. Chapter 3: One Last Nightmare

He was tired. Tired of the nightmares, of staying up. Tired of seeing his sons faces when he dragged himself out of his room. The way they looked at him, eyes filled with worry and fear. Tired of being sad and lonely. He was tired of being tired.

But he just laid there, staring blankly. Splinter didn't know if he was awake or asleep. He would only know when the nightmares started. He didn't have to wait long.

_Fire. A big fire. It glowed like a sun in the night sky, lighting everything up in horrid shades of red and orange. He could hear screams, loud desperate wails of fear and pain. All from the same person._

_"Yoshi!" She cried._

_He was outside of the house, watching. He tried so hard to move but his feet were stuck to the ground. No matter how hard he tried to move his legs, they refused to lift even a little bit._

_"Shen!" He screamed. The house began to shake, flames swallowing every beam and board. There was mighty, terrifying roar from the building and it crumbled to ashes and dust. The fire disappeared._

_He could finally move now and he began to run towards the remains of his home. Maybe, just maybe, he could save them. Maybe it wasn't too late. But he couldn't run fast enough. The air around him was like molasses, it took great effort to move through it. Every stride took minutes._

_What seemed like hours later, he reached the ashes of the house. With a desperate cry, he began to search the wooden ruins for any sign of his wife and daughter._

_He shifted through hot rubble and ashes, burning his hands. He didn't care about the pain or the blisters forming on his feet and palms. He only cared about finding them. About finding something._

_He moved a charred beam aside and discovered the remains of a wooden crib._

_"Miwa?" His voice was a whisper. "Miwa!" He called. "Shen! Shen?" He reached into the remains of the crib and pulled out what was left of his daughter's blanket._

_He held the burned pink fabric to him and sobbed. "My family, my family." he gasped. "I'm sorry."_

_"Yoshi." A hand landed on his shoulder. He whipped around to strike the person away but froze when he saw who it was. It wasn't Oroku Saki, but Tang Shen._

_"I lost our family." He whispered in horror._

_"No, Yoshi." She shook her head. "You found one. Do not abandon them."_

_He looked at her in confusion as she held her hand to him. He took her hand and she slipped something into his. He drew his hand back and looked up and the folded up piece of paper. He unfolded it and discovered it wasn't paper, but a photograph of four turtle toddler._

_He looked up but she was gone._

Splinter sat up quickly, breathing deeply. He didn't mean to abandoned his sons, but know he could see it. They needed him, even now. They were his family now and needed to be their father.


	4. Chapter 4: Before Breakfast Brawl

Leo and Raph clashed their wooden swords together, locked in practice battle. The boys were small, but they knew how to spar.

"I'm gonna beat you!" Raphael taunted, giving his brother a haughty smirk. He put all of his weight on his sword, trying desperately to out muscle his brother back.

"Nu-uh!" Leonardo protested, sticking out his tongue. "I know I can beat you!" He let Raph push hard against him, fighting to push back. He narrowed his eyes in concentration and then is ssmiled. He stopped pushing and moved out of the way. His brother came tumbling down.

Michelangelo and Donatello, who were sitting off to the side, laughed as Leo looked down at their brother. They had already fought against each other and were now waiting to see the outcome of their brothers spar.

"That's not fair!" Raph grunted as he stood up. "You always practice with swords!"

"Doesn't matter." Leo retorted. "I still won, fair and – AGGGHH!"

Raphael threw himself at his older brother and tackled him to the ground. The two rolled around on the floor, trying to hit each other.

"Guys! Sensei is gonna hear us!" Donatello warned, getting up and moving away from the tussle, though he sounded more amused than worried.

"Guys! Guys?" He frowned. They weren't listening to him.

"Turtle pile!" Michelangelo bellowed, diving into the fight to land on his siblings. The riot now had three members and was growing progressively louder. With a shrug of his shoulders, Donnie decided to join in. He entered the fray and began to fight his brothers.

"Ow! That hurt!"

"That's the whole point, shellbrain!"

"I'm gonna have a bruise!"

"Get your foot out of my face!"

The quarrel went on until a hand reached into the mess of turtles and pulled one out, kicking and screaming. He stopped fighting when he realized who was holding him.

"Oh hey, Sensei." Raph squeaked, ducking his head.

Splinter set Rapael down and the boys line up. They looked up at their father, eyes big, trying to pull a 'cute and not guilty' look.

"What were you four doing?" he demanded, walking behind them. They stayed quiet, on one daring to say anything.

"Anyone?" He stopped behind Leonardo. "Were you practicing?"

The boys nodded.

"And? The last time I checked, training did not include brawling." He put his hand on Leonardo's shoulder,

"W-well, it started out as training." The oldest said.

"And then Raph tackled Leo." Donatello chimed in.

"What!?" The accused spun around to face his sensei. "No way! Leo started it!" He huffed.

"Nu-uh!" Michelangelo disagreed. "You just didn't like the fact the Leo whooped your shell in practice!"

Raph looked at his brothers like he wanted to kill them.

"It seems I need to teach you how accept defeat with honor and dignity." Splinted nodded. "And how to accept a victory without being boastful."

The boys groaned in unison. They didn't want another lesson.

"But that will stat tomorrow. It is still early. Have you four had breakfast?" He turned away from the boys and began to walk towards the kitchen. They just gaped at him.

"Well?" Their father asked, looking at them over his shoulder. "We can start the lesson if you want...But I would rather have breakfast with my family."

The boys smiled and chased after their sensei.

It seemed Master Splinter was coming back early.


End file.
